Spell Durations

All spells with durations expressed in rounds last for the exact same number of combat rounds. Spells with durations measured in turns last for the entire battle. If a spell measured in rounds is in the middle of its duration when the fighting begins, the balance of its duration runs in combat rounds.

For example, a 5th-level mage casts a haste spell that lasts three rounds, plus one round per level, for a total of eight rounds. In the fifth round, the party gets into a fight. The haste spell lasts four combat rounds before expiring.

Everything else about the spell still functions on a round-by-round basis, as it did before. A cleric casting heat metal still inflicts 2d4 points of searing damage in the third, fourth, and fifth combat rounds. A wizard with a feather fall spell still falls at a rate of 120 feet per combat round. Remember, this is an abstract system; applying physics properties to every situation (such as the fact that the wizard with feather fall is now plummeting to the ground at a hasty 6.8 mph rather than the standard 1.4 mph) may reveal lots of facts, but it won’t make for a better game.

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